


Team Anko Tales

by Jondera



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: F/F, Gen, Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 16:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18898795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jondera/pseuds/Jondera
Summary: Not all genin teams are put together straight out of the academy.  Sometimes life just throws one together in the lap of someone who wasn't expecting to be a Jonin-sensei.Recursive fic for Dreaming of Sunshine, following the adventures of Mitarashi Anko and her three students: Isaribi, Kurama Yakumo, and Haruno Sakura.





	1. Isaribi

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters 1-3 formerly posted on DOS forums on FFnet. Many thanks to Waffelate and others for advice & betaing.

My decision had seemed so simple, back on the dock on Mother Island; nobody wanted me there. Amachi had all but laughed in my face as he told me that he’d never been going to turn me back into a regular human. He didn’t even know how. I was an outcast; a monster, with no family, no future. No hope… except Naruto. Because he was like me, and he was accepted. And he said that maybe this Tsunade could do what Amachi could not. So it seemed an obvious choice, to leave behind those who feared me and find a new life for myself with people who could accept those who were different from them.

Easy enough, there, on the dock, in the salt, wind, and sun.

I admit, my knowledge of geography was a bit sketchy. I knew that the Land of the Sea usually contracted ninja from the Land of Water to the northeast, but Naruto and his friends had come from Konoha, in the land of Fire. But the Land of Fire had port towns, and I had given little thought to how much land there was beyond them.

As the ship pulled into port in the Land of Fire, I eyed the sweeping coastline in either direction warily; even the largest island in the Land of the Sea was far smaller than this. It was strange to see so much of the horizon engulfed by land.

We left the ship - and the coast - behind, and struck off inland. I had hiked up in the hills on Mother Island before… not often, but a few times, and thought I knew what to expect. The difference became clear late that day, when I could no longer smell salt in the wind through the trees. Looking around, I could see no sign of the ocean, or even of a lake or river through the trees. It was strange, after so many years living in sight of the ocean, to realize that the only water whose location I could be sure of was in the bottles in our packs.

I might have turned back then, but for the realization that there was nothing waiting for me if I did. And, well… I couldn’t bring myself to disappoint Naruto. He had fought so hard to protect me, and was so confident, that I swallowed anything I might have said, squared my shoulders against my pack, and walked steadily onwards into the unknown, trying to ignore the knot of fear in my stomach about what would be waiting for me.

My first view of Konoha itself didn’t do any better for my composure. The wall was massive, and Naruto’s blithe assertion that we still had another 20 kilometers past the wall before we reached the central village stopped me in my tracks for a moment. These people had walled off an area larger than Jiro Island, with a wall taller than any of the houses in my old village. I couldn’t even imagine the sheer scale of that kind of project.

I missed the start of the conversation with the gate guards, because I was so distracted. I refocused when I realized that Anko was handing Amachi over to a couple ninja for delivery to someplace called T and I, then the two men sitting behind the table turned towards me. “And who is this, then?”

Naruto immediately spoke up, saying “This is Isaribi-nee-chan! She can…” before being cut off by Anko’s hand clamping over his mouth. 

She picked up the train of conversation, however, saying “She’s a civilian who was involved in various classified situations during the mission. There are possible medical complications, and Hokage-sama will want to examine her right away.”

The man at the desk - who I now noticed had a strip of bandage wrapped across his nose and cheeks, which nobody else seemed to be paying attention to - nodded and gave orders to a messenger, then noted some things down and handed me a token. ”That’s your pass, don’t lose it.” Turning to Anko, he continued ”You know procedure. She’s on level one security restrictions and you’re responsible for her until other arrangements are made. I’ve sent a medical notice to the tower, so Hokage-sama will meet you at the hospital for your debrief.” 

Anko simply nodded and waved him off with a muttered affirmative.

I don’t remember much about the walk through Konoha - a daze of strange impressions, sounds and sights blurring together as I tried to take in everything and ended up processing almost nothing. I could barely focus until we arrived at the hospital. Anko spoke to the woman at the desk, and then I was whisked off to a private room in the secure ward, with Naruto and his friends following along.

We only had to wait a few minutes before the door slammed open and a blonde woman in a green coat strode into the room, glancing at the everyone before fixing Anko with a look. “Your message said something about medical complications?” 

Anko nodded, more subdued than I had seen her during the fighting or the trip here. ”Yes, Hokage-sama. This is Isaribi, she’s a civilian from the Land of the Sea, who was kidnapped and experimented on in one of Orochimaru’s facilities.” 

The woman - Tsunade, I assumed - frowned, then stepped over to me and took my chin in her left hand, giving me a quick look over. Then she stepped back and looked between me, Naruto, Ino, and Shino. “All right. You four, stay here. Anko, I want your verbal report on the situation now. Come with me.” Then she left the room, with Anko following and closing the door behind them.

The wait was tense, but Naruto helped with his confident banter, talking about how Tsunade (though he called her baa-san) would definitely be able to help me and how everything would be OK. He had just gotten past that part to ask me what I’d do afterwards, a question that left me feeling like my stomach had turned to lead again, when the door reopened, and Anko and Tsunade reentered the room. 

Tsunade fixed the ninja in the room with a sharp look, and said “All right. Anko has filled me in on what happened. I’ll expect your written reports by the end of the week, but for the moment, everything from the mission in regards to the Demon Island facility — who was behind it, and the techniques and abilities used by Amachi and Isaribi — is classified. Dismissed.” 

With a collection of “Yes, Hokage-sama”s and a “Sure, Baa-san” from Naruto, the four filed from the room and the door closed, leaving me alone with the woman who was apparently the most powerful ninja in this entire village.

There was a long moment of silence as Tsunade studied me, before she sighed. “All right, Isaribi-san. Like I said, Anko filled me in. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a victim of Orochimaru’s actions. I don’t know if I’ll be able to help you, but I promise you that Konoha will do everything we can to set it right. To start with, as you heard, your abilities and situation are classified - Naruto may be a loudmouth, but he and the others won’t talk about what happened or what you can do. You are exempt from that; if you choose to share that information with someone, you may do so. Unless you do, however, you are officially going to be listed as suffering unspecified complications from classified experimentation. After I examine you, I’ll be bringing several other doctors in to familiarize them with your situation, so I won’t need to be consulted every time you get sick. Is that understood?”

I nodded, feeling a little dizzy. “Yes Tsunade-sama.”

Tsunade nodded firmly. “Very well then. Let’s get those bandages off, so I can get this examination started.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent three days in the Konoha hospital. I don’t know if they would have stopped me if I’d tried to leave, but to be honest everything going on was so overwhelming that I was happy enough to stay there. In addition to Tsunade, I was examined by her assistant Shizune, and her apprentice Sakura (though that one felt more like a lesson for Sakura’s benefit disguised as an examination), a woman named Igaku who was the chief of surgery, and a couple other senior doctors. They all seemed to do roughly the same things, and I couldn’t follow most of what they talked about while they did.

Somewhat more interesting were the interviews. There were several, over those days; a couple with Ino’s father, and another with a friendly older woman named Hijiri, going over everything I could remember from my time with Amachi in that place under Demon island. They were really nice about it, but it was obvious they were trying to get as much useful information as they could. I was happy to help, really, and it broke up the monotony of the medical exams. I was surprised by how much I remembered, really, once they started asking questions about the same things in multiple ways, teasing out bits and pieces that I hadn’t realized I’d noticed at the time. I hoped they got something useful out of it.

I had several purely social visits, as well. Apparently it was a bit tricky since I was in the secure wing, but Naruto came by to let me know about his new mission, and Ino brought me some flowers and stayed to talk for a bit, telling me about the ups and downs of her family’s flower shop. Anko showed up one afternoon in the middle of an examination with a box of dango to share, and got a bit of a severe look from the doctor, but didn’t seem to notice. Even Shino showed up, briefly, to give me a book about freshwater fish species found in the Land of Fire. I’m not entirely sure what he meant by it, but I thanked him all the same, and it was a better way to pass the time than watching the clock or worrying about the future.

On the afternoon of the third day, Tsunade swept into the room with a grim look on her face. She sat down next to the bed where I had been reading, and as soon as I had put the book down, she gave her prognosis. “I’m sorry to say it, but we can’t undo what was done to you. Without Amachi’s research notes, which are probably in Orochimaru’s possession if any copies even still exist after the destruction of his labs, it will take us years to figure out what exactly he did to you and how, much less have any idea of how to start the process of reversing it. The good news - what there is of it - is that the process doesn’t appear to have had any significant negative side-effects. It hasn’t, and shouldn’t, impact your growth or physical development, and there shouldn’t be any meaningful health concerns associated with it at least for the foreseeable future. I do recommend you schedule regular examinations for a while so we can get a better idea of how your physiology reacts over time, but you’re not in any immediate danger from it.”

She paused as I stared at the book in my hands, unable to read the words I’d been poring over just minutes before. I felt like I wanted to throw up, but couldn’t. I was stuck like this. For years, at the very least, possibly for the rest of my life. I was always going to be a freak, a monster…

Tsunade was speaking again, breaking through the haze. “The important thing now is for you to decide what you want to do. I’ve asked Shizune to arrange for an apartment for you, and also to bring down your official immigration paperwork and process the equivalent pay for an A-rank intelligence mission for the information you provided on Orochimaru’s activities. That’ll give you some time to settle in and come to terms with things before you need to make any decisions.” She reached out and laid her hand on my forearm, “The important thing to remember is that no matter what happens, you’ll have a home here in Konoha.”

There was a knock on the door, and Shizune stepped in with a stack of papers tucked under her arm. “Ah, Tsunade-sama, I’m not interrupting?”

Tsunade released my arm and stood up. “No, I was just finishing. Get the paperwork handled then help her get settled in at the apartment.” She scowled out the window “I suppose I’d better get back to the tower and see how much I’ve missed these last couple days.” She turned and didn’t quite stomp out of the room. Shizune looked after her with a mix of exasperation and amusement, before turning back to the bed.

“All right, Isaribi-san. First, I have here your official discharge papers from the hospital, then your immigration forms, the lease for your apartment, and finally the paperwork for the bank account we’ve set up in your name.” As she spoke, she set down papers on the table next to the bed, then handed me a pen. “Once we get all these filled out and signed, I can take you shopping for essentials then show you your new home. The sooner the better!” Her brisk efficiency and cheerful smile managed to push through my haze and get me moving again, and I gamely worked through more forms than I’d ever signed in my life, officially registering myself as a citizen of Konoha (“Please come to the tower sometime within the next couple days to get your official ID”), and signing the waiver retroactively giving Shizune permission to have withdrawn funds from my account to cover initial expenses.

Then it was out of the hospital, and another whirlwind trip through Konoha, stopping at several shops to get clothing, food, cleaning supplies, and other essential household goods, before we arrived at the door to a small third-floor apartment. The place was obviously intended for a single person living alone - and probably someone who didn’t expect to be entertaining - with only three rooms; a front room which was half kitchen and half table, a bedroom with just enough space for a desk and futon next to each other, and a cramped bathroom. The landlady - a cheerful older woman who introduced herself as Yume - was waiting when we arrived, and gave me the brief tour and the keys. Then Shizune helped me put away the groceries and clothing, then enjoined me to visit the administrative desk in the tower if I needed anything before excusing herself, and leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Shizune had gotten me takeout so I didn’t have to cook on my first night out of the hospital, and I mechanically dished it out onto a plate and carried it over to the table. The apartment felt strange after so long living in my shack along the shore, but I barely even noticed through the fog of despair that was coming back now that Shizune had left. My thoughts circled themselves as I chewed and swallowed the food I could barely taste, and after a while I realized I was staring at a half-full plate and couldn’t muster the energy to eat any more. I stood up and stumbled into the bedroom, flopped down onto the futon fully clothed, and curled up and hugged my knees, trembling, until I fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up to someone knocking at my door. I layed in bed for a little bit, pondering just waiting until they went away, but they kept knocking so eventually I dragged myself up and went to go face the world again. I hauled the door open, and found myself face to face with Ino, who was carrying more flowers, and barely said hello before she let herself in, talking about how she’d gotten my address from Shizune, and arranged the bouquet in a vase on my counter, then bustled me into the bathroom to get myself cleaned up while she cooked breakfast.

I felt rather closer to human again by the time I came back out, dressed in some of my new clothes, and sat down to breakfast feeling a bit guilty about her coming to help me out. She waved off my apologies, saying “Never mind that. Shizune-san told me about the medical stuff, and asked me to check in on you this morning. I know it must seem like the end of the world, but give it some time; anything can be worked through, with time and effort.” She went silent for a moment, staring at her hands, before she continued. “Anyway, you’re my friend, so of course I’m always happy to help you out. Now then, eat up! You need to go get your ID, so as soon as you’re done eating I’m taking you up to the tower.”

I had been wondering why Shizune directed me to the tower without actually telling me where it was. At first I thought it was because she was planning to have Ino show me, but once we left it became clear that, well. The tower might not have been completely obvious on first glance around the village, but it was directly underneath the giant stone faces which WERE completely obvious on first glance, and it was big, and red, and… yeah, I would have been able to find it.

We found the right desk, and I got my photo taken for my file, and my ID issued, and Ino was talking about taking me out for lunch when someone Shino stepped into the room and walked over to us. “Isaribi-san, please excuse me, but Ino will need to cut short her time with you. Why? Because we have a mission.” Turning to Ino, he continued “I will go get Hinata, you should prepare and meet us at the gates.” Ino nodded, then with a hug and a promise to have lunch together after she got back, she dashed out of the building.

I wandered for a bit. The tower was busy, and with my business there done for the moment, I left, strolling down the streets and away from the crowds. I still didn’t know my way around, so I was mostly picking directions based on where there were fewer people, until eventually I found myself following a small river into a grassy field with a couple small clumps of forest around it. I sat down on the riverbank and listened to the water, relaxing in the sun, letting my mind drift.

I think I dozed a bit, but it didn’t last long, before I sat bolt upright at the sound of someone shouting “DYNAMIC ENTRY!” and the appearance of two people - one an adult, and the other about my own age, both dressed in eye-searing green tights and orange leg-warmers, who rocketed into the clearing and appeared to be doing their level best to beat each other to a pulp. I was scrabbling backwards when two other people followed the two lunatics at a more sedate pace. One of them, a girl, saw me and shouted out “Sensei! Stop it!” and the fight immediately stopped. The girl jogged over to me and offered me a hand up, asking “Are you alright?”

I took her hand gratefully, and said “Mostly just surprised. What’s going on?”

The girl gave me an odd look. “Just training. Most people avoid this training ground, since Gai-sensei likes using it.” As she spoke, the other three were walking over to see what was going on.

I squeaked slightly. “Training ground?”

She nodded. “Are you new in Konoha? We’ve got areas like this scattered all over for combat practice. I’m Tenten, by the way, this is Neji, Lee, and that’s Gai-sensei.”

I bobbed a bow to each of them. “Isaribi. Yes, I just came here this week, and this is the first time I’ve been out in the village by myself. I followed the river and ended up here, I apologize for intruding on your training ground.” I stammered a bit. Gai was very intimidating up close.

Or, he was for a moment. Right up until he broke into the broadest, most brilliant smile I had ever seen, giving me a thumbs-up and saying “Well then, Isaribi-san, I, Maito Gai, welcome you to Konoha, and hope that you make a most pleasant and youthful life for yourself here!” The effect left me more than a bit dazed.

Tenten gently took me by the arm. “Isaribi-san? Here, why don’t we go to one of the civilian parks.” Turning back to her team, she said “You three keep training, I’ll take care of this.” Then, tugging slightly on my arm to get me moving, she led me away from the training ground while Lee and Gai resumed their aborted training. Spar? Brawl? I wasn’t sure. Whatever they were doing, they were enthusiastic about it.

Tenten led me out of the training ground and over to a somewhat more orderly park, where we sat down on a bench overlooking the same river. “Now then, I apologize for that. Even most ninja here in Konoha find Gai-sensei overwhelming, and having him in full training mode sprung on you when you’re new here…” She sighed.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. It’s…” I stared into the river for a long moment. “I don’t know what to do. I thought everything would be fine once I got here, but it’s not, and nobody can help, and I have no idea what I’m going to do now, and I… I…” I folded up, covering my face with my hands and bending over until my forehead hit my knees. Oh kami, why had I said that. Why did I open up to this complete stranger? She knew nothing about me and here I was blubbering about my own problems. I couldn’t help it, I hated crying, but I couldn’t stop, I was shaking and…

An arm closed around my shoulders, dragging me up into a hug. I clung to Tenten as I sobbed into her shirt. I don’t know how long it lasted, with me crying and her holding onto my shoulders and letting me cry. Eventually the tension drained out of me and I managed to stop, pulling back and sitting up on the bench, my eyes puffy. “Sorry about that.” I croaked.

She pulled a pair of handkerchiefs seemingly out of nowhere, handing me one before starting to wipe off her shirt with the other. “It’s okay. Sometimes you just need somebody to let you get those things off your shoulders for a bit.” She frowned slightly, thinking, then nodded to herself. “Let me tell you a story. Now, back when I first entered the academy…”


	2. Anko

It was late morning, the sun shining through the trees, dappling the training ground in dots of light that shifted in the summer breeze. I spun in place, my coat billowing out behind me as I brought my left hand around to catch Yakumo’s side kick and turn it away - the kick’s form was good, but the power behind it was still far less than normal for one of my sparring matches. Not that that was a great surprise. Yakumo was far more motivated than I would have expected before her week and a half with the Nara girl, but even her apparent new friendship with Gai’s enthusiastic student couldn’t make up years of physical training in the space of two weeks.

Not, admittedly, that Academy Basic was a style I used very often. Most of the tokubetsu jonin had their own specialized combat styles, and I was no exception to the rule. My snakes and knives were all put away for my morning training sessions these days, however, as I drilled my new student in the basic forms and conditioning that she’d missed out on by not attending the academy and then her years of virtual imprisonment in the Kurama main house.

She brought the turned kick back to the ground, shifting her stance to allow her to use the momentum of the blow to push off the ground into a lunge, bringing both her hands up in a quick combination of jabs which I fended off even as I continued my spin. Her eyes widened in surprise when her last blow went unblocked - and sailed cleanly over my shoulder as I dropped, catching myself smoothly on my palms as my spin brought my right leg around in a scything arc toward her knees. She jumped, tucking herself to get clearance over the leg, but then I straightened my left leg from its position under the flapping fabric of my coat, and it caught her descending feet at just the wrong angle, and with no leverage in the air she cried out in alarm as she went sprawling, just barely managing to get an arm out to break the momentum of her fall.

I rolled back to my feet, then bent over and offered her a hand up. She frowned at me as she took it and let me pull her back upright. “Sensei, that trip maneuver isn’t in any of the forms you’ve been teaching me…”

I chuckled. “No, it isn’t. The academy instructors would take the time to make sure you have a thorough grounding in the basic forms before starting to add other styles and techniques to the mix, but I’m going to be doing things a bit differently. Giving you the kind of broad basis in Taijutsu most academy graduates have would take years, and to be frank, with your abilities, it’s never going to be more than your backup anyway. As I see it, you mostly need to be concerned with how to counter and escape from an enemy that closes with you, and for that, you need to know how to react to new and unexpected techniques.”

Yakumo was listening to my reasoning, nodding as I explained, when she glanced to the side behind me. Turning, I saw someone approaching the two of us, dressed in the less-common variant of the medical-nin uniform that denoted one of Konoha’s handful of home-care specialists. My smile turned a little sour as I recognized her, and realized what must be coming.

As she got close enough for easy conversation, the woman fixed me with a glare as she spoke. “Anko. I’ve been trying to talk to you for weeks. I’d almost think you were avoiding me.”

I shrugged. “Hello Kimiko. You know perfectly well that I have been avoiding you. And you know why. I suppose it’s been a while now, though, so I’m probably due again.” She simply nodded sharply. “All right. This afternoon, though. He wouldn’t want me to cut short my time with my student.”

Kimiko grumbled a bit at that, but agreed, and went to sit down against a tree to wait.

Yakumo and I had another spar, then finished off the morning’s training with a series of throwing challenges for shuriken, kunai, and senbon - I rather expected those skills to be more useful for her than taijutsu, since her genjutsu would leave her opponents off-balance and unaware of the incoming attack. I hadn’t broached the subject of poison with her yet, but it was on the schedule for next week, if her accuracy kept improving.

As we broke for lunch, I wished Yakumo a good afternoon. I knew she planned to visit Lee, so she was probably going to keep training anyway, but she’d only managed to work herself to collapse once, so it would probably be fine. What was the point in being young if you couldn’t push things a little too hard sometimes?

After a quick lunch, I followed Kimiko across the village to a small apartment building in the lee of the cliff face, on the outskirts of the main area of the village, behind the hospital. It was a thoroughly unimpressive affair, only three stories, with no particular distinctive markings. A mid-sized communal garden behind the building was in full growth, one of the tenants sat on a stool as she carefully pulled weeds from among the various flowers and vegetables.

We went inside, and up to the second floor, three doors down, left side of the hall. At Kimiko’s half-glare, I knocked, and after a moment, the door opened to reveal a crag-faced man in his 50s. His eyes widened as he saw me, and I saw moisture glistening in his eyes as he stepped through the doorway to grab me in a wordless, bony hug. I stiffened a bit, but managed to relax and return the embrace. After a moment, he pulled back, and I greeted him. “Hello, Father.”

He led me into the apartment, and all but pushed me into a chair while he went into the small kitchen to get tea. His movements were stiffer than they’d been on my last visit - it was obvious that his health was still deteriorating. I wondered how much longer he’d be able to stay here, with only regular visits from Kimiko or one of the other home care medics, rather than full-time care. Between his pension and my pay I could afford to move him to the nursing home - it wasn’t exactly in high demand, given how few shinobi made it to old age, but it still wasn’t cheap.

He came back with the tea, his hands shaking slightly as he set the cups down. He’d left enough leeway that he didn’t spill any, though it might have been close. He sat down across from me, and there was a moment of silence as we both sipped our tea. It had been years since we’d known how to talk to each other, and obviously my last four months of avoiding him hadn’t made it any easier. I set my cup down, and broke the tension; “So, how have you been?”

He made a noncommittal shrug. “Well enough. The nurses have been after me to watch what I eat more carefully. Naoki-san comes by every couple weeks with some notes for me to look at.” It took me a moment to place the name - Shimizu Naoki, one of father’s juniors at R&D, before the department head had quietly arranged for father to retire because of his failing health and… other reasons. He coughed and took another sip of tea. “I help out with the garden when I have the energy. You?”

I waited a moment while I collected my thoughts. I couldn’t tell him anything related to Orochimaru; even mentioning the Sannin would set father off, and his health was failing fast enough as it was. “Hokage-sama has moved me out of Intelligence. The Kurama clan heiress - Yakumo - never attended the academy and is somewhat behind on her training, so I’ve been assigned as her teacher. I’ve also been out of the village a couple times on missions. Nothing major.” That was a lie, but I couldn’t very well tell him what they were about. “Oh, and I proctored one of the tests for the Chuunin exams.” That was safe enough, as long as I didn’t talk about the invasion.

The silence stretched out again, both of us stewing in our own thoughts, drinking tea. It was his turn to break it, and he did. “Anko, honey. You know I never wanted… I’m sorry I pushed you into…” His voice cracked and he shuddered. “I just wanted you to be happy, and he was so smart… Then after he… after he…”

Dammit. This was what I was trying to avoid. Hell, this was the whole reason I avoided coming here any more than I had to. Just seeing me was enough to set him off. I leaned over the table, gripping his forearms. “Father. It’s not your fault. I’m okay. You did nothing wrong.”

If he heard me, he didn’t respond, he just kept mumbling his own litany of self-condemnation. “I tried. Tried so hard to find the answer, how to undo what he’d done… I failed. Not good enough.” His eyes flicked to my shoulder, then back to my face, the same mixture of relief and self-hatred in them that I’d seen that first time I’d seen him after being brought back from the Land of the Sea all those years ago. “Useless. Couldn’t even protect my own daughter.”

I wanted to shake him, to shout at him that he’d done everything he could, that nobody had expected Orochimaru’s betrayal. But I didn’t. We’d done this so many times, I knew the words were empty. There was nothing I could say - nothing anyone could say, that would help him forgive himself for what he saw as his own failure. He blamed himself for pushing me towards research, for being happy when I’d been chosen for the snake’s team. And for not being able to find me or find a way to control or remove the curse seal after Orochimaru’s betrayal. He had worked himself half to death trying to understand the curse seal, with almost nothing to show for it.

I stood up and walked around the table, dragging him up out of his chair and wrapping my arms around him. He clung to me, sobbing into my coat, but there was nothing else I could do for him any more. I hurt him has much as I helped him, just by bringing it all back. I pulled my left arm back for a moment and summoned Nasu, flicking my fingers towards the door. The snake bobbed her head and slipped out of the apartment in search of Kimiko, or one of the other nurses.

It was a few minutes before Nasu returned with Kimiko, by which time my father had been reduced to shuddering against my chest, and I turned him over to the nurse with a level look. I couldn’t tell her off for dragging me in here with father still falling apart, and especially when I knew that it had been months since my last visit, but even so, she understood. She’d leave me alone for a while again. As she took charge of my father, I slipped out of the building and away.

I grabbed a box of dango and found a bench along the river, away from my usual haunts, where I could watch the water - and people - flow past while I snacked. Visiting father always put me in a sour mood, and I wanted some time alone with my thoughts. I was halfway through the Dango when a timid voice said “Um, Anko-san? Excuse me, could I talk to you?” I looked up to see Isaribi standing a couple feet away from the bench, looking nervous.

I sighed. I didn’t actually want to talk right at the moment, but I also didn’t want to turn her away; the girl had to much in common with me, and I knew she was trying to fit in in a new home, so the least I could do would be to talk to her, even if I wasn’t in the best mood. I gestured to the bench next to me. “Sure. Sit down, what’s up?”

She sat down, her hands folded in her lap, looking out over the river and people across it without really seeing them. After a moment, she said “Anko-san… why did you become a ninja?”

I blinked in surprise at the question. It wasn’t one that got asked very often, and while I would usually have given a flippant answer, in my current mood…

I was silent for a long moment, then I said, “Y’know. I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about it before. When I was a kid, becoming a ninja was just what people did. My parents were ninjas; my mother died in the third war, my father was in research. All my friends were training to be ninjas. I trained to be a ninja. There wasn’t really any reason for it, it’s just what we did. Then, after…” I stopped. I hadn’t actually told Isaribi about what had happened to me at Orochimaru’s hands all those years ago. “I trained under Orochimaru. Before he betrayed the village. It was an honor, to study under one of the Sannin, but… then. He used me in one of his experiments. I survived, and he offered to take me with him when he left the village, but I refused. I came back here and… I could have quit then. There were those who pushed for me to be removed from active duty. Some thought I was a security risk, some thought I was no longer capable of handling it. It would have been easy to agree with them, to let myself get shuffled aside to a life of safety. Never being in any more danger than any other civilian here in the village. But I couldn’t do that.”

I sighed. “At first, I thought it was because I wanted revenge. I wanted to kill Orochimaru - or at least hurt him - for the things he had done to me. Or to others. Some days I focused so much on revenge that I forgot everything else but my drive to destroy the man who taught me everything I knew. But… I think I knew, even then, that I’d never be able to. I’ve tried, but… he’s so far beyond my capabilities that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to match him on my own.” I shook my head. “No, the real reason I couldn’t let myself get shuffled aside is because Konoha is my home, and it’s more to me than just a collection of buildings and people. It’s an ideal, and the will to protect those people and that ideal. Not just from Orochimaru, but from anyone who might threaten them. That’s why I fought to remain a ninja, and why I fight now. Because whatever flaws it has, I love this village, and I have to protect it as best I can, in my own way.”

I trailed off, staring off towards the river. Then blinked out of the reverie and turned to look at the girl next to me. “Why do you ask?”

She frowned, fiddling absently at the ends of one of her bandages. “When I came here, I thought that I never wanted to fight again. Before, all I ever did was hurt people and steal, and I hated it, but… people like Tenten and Hinata are so kind, and Naruto said I should become a ninja, but…” She sighed

I reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t rush the decision. Nobody will think less of you if you want to remain a civilian. Well, nobody who matters. But if you have something that you think is worth fighting for, then I would be happy to help you.” I looked down at the half-empty box in my lap. Two skewers left. I picked one up and held it out, “I usually think better over dango. You want some?”


	3. Yakumo

I arrived at Anko-sensei’s preferred training grounds early, too excited to wait any longer; today was the first day Sensei had asked me to meet her here, rather than coming to my house for breakfast before-hand. I didn’t know what the change in routine was about, but I suspected it meant something interesting was going to happen today.

Of course, five minutes after arriving, I realized that my being early wasn’t going to bring Sensei here any earlier, and that now I was just going to have to wait anyway. I considered getting out my portable painting supplies and doing a quick landscape to pass the time, but however much it might take my mind off the wait, another painting wouldn’t help me learn what I needed to be a ninja.

Leaning my pack against a tree, I grimly set about the exercise routine Sensei had taught me when we first started training, to stretch out and prepare myself for the more intensive work to come and also to develop the physical strength that I lacked. The routine wasn’t fun, but at least it no longer left me gasping for air by the time I finished it, and I pushed through in the hopes of getting it finished and having a few minutes to recover before Sensei arrived and started throwing me around the field.

I was halfway through the final figure of the routine, holding the handstand in the middle of a cartwheel as long as I could - admittedly, thus far I’d only managed a few seconds, but I was getting better - when I heard voices approaching and my concentration broke, and rather than finishing the cartwheel and coming to my feet, I lost my balance and went down in a jumble. Pulling myself upright, I saw Sensei approaching with another girl who looked about my own age, with dark purple hair and lots of bandages; given that Konoha was a ninja village, it wasn’t all that unusual to see people wearing bandages as part of their usual clothing, but this girl had more than most, with both arms, one leg, even her neck and part of her face covered.

I climbed back to my feet with a groan as the two approached, and Sensei was grinning ear to ear when she spoke. “Morning, Yakumo! Getting an early start, I see? I thought you’d gotten past falling over during that figure…” I opened my mouth to stammer some sort of response, but she waved it away and continued, “This is Isaribi, she’s going to be joining us for training from now on.”

The bandaged girl looked nervous, and I was more than a little curious myself - my own case was very unusual, and most people training to become ninjas would go through the academy - it did occasionally take older students, if a civilian child or immigrant wanted to enroll at an older age than usual. My training with Anko-sensei was far more specialized, to reflect the incomplete education I’d gotten when I was younger and my own unique and highly specialized abilities.

After a moment, Sensei pulled a water bottle out of one of her pockets, and said “I’ll give the two of you a bit to introduce yourselves before we get into things.” Then she turned to Isaribi and, with a hand on the other girl’s shoulder, said “I know this is all very new for you, but it’s important to be open with your comrades, even about things you’d rather keep to yourself.” Then she walked away, leaving me alone with Isaribi and even more questions.

Hoping to break the ice, I held out my hand to the girl. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Yakumo, from the Kurama clan. I’m a specialist in Genjutsu techniques but I didn’t finish the academy, so Anko-sensei is helping me catch up on what I missed and work on my physical training.”

Isaribi shook my hand with a tentative smile. “I’m Isaribi, I just moved here from… from the Land of the Sea. It’s so different here…” She paused a moment, then swallowed and continued. “I came here with Anko-san, after she and Naruto-san rescued me.”

Well, that answered the question of her age and why she’d been placed with Sensei, but not why she hadn’t gone through the academy. I thought for a moment about asking, but she wasn’t done.

Glancing over towards where Sensei was apparently engrossed in a notebook - though I had little doubt that she was following every word of the conversation - Isaribi sighed, then continued; “I was, well. Experimented on.” She took a step back, then reached up and started unwinding her bandages; on her face and neck, then her arms, revealing patches of dark blue-green scales on her cheek and neck, and all across her arm. “They turned me into this, and Tsunade-sama says she can’t undo it. When I asked to train as a ninja, she said… she said I should learn to use it better.”

By this time, she had finished unwinding the bandages from her leg, and closed her eyes for a moment to focus.

If I hadn’t known otherwise, I would have thought that what happened next was a genjutsu, but no - Isaribi was actually transforming. The scales spread, covering almost her entire body, with fins growing from her head, arms, and legs, webbing between her fingers, and more. I glanced at Sensei, but while she had stopped pretending to ignore us, she didn’t seem concerned - or surprised. I looked back at Isaribi as she resumed speaking. “I guess if I’m stuck as a monster, then I can at least keep other people from getting hurt like I was.”

I still hadn’t entirely processed what she had done, but when she said that, something more important jumped to the front of my thoughts; this girl thought that she was a monster; not through her own actions or desires, but because of something that was done to her. I knew more about the kind of self-hatred those kinds of thoughts could bring on than I wanted to; I still woke up some nights from the memories of the things my other half had done.

I walked over to her, and reached out - she flinched back, but held still as I gently gripped her upper arms. “You’re not a monster. Being a monster isn’t something physical - it’s not about having claws, or fangs - it’s about actions. You want to help and protect people; that’s not something a monster does.”

I let my hands run down her arms, the scales feeling strange to the touch. Up close, they weren’t simply the plain blue-green they’d seemed at first glance; each scale was a deep green, fading to a lighter teal near the edge where each scale overlapped the next, with a slight iridescent shimmer that promised to be more pronounced when the scales got wet. The patterns were almost mesmerizing, and I released her left arm and reached up, tracing the patch of scales on her cheek with my finger. I almost whispered; “You’re not a monster… you’re beautiful.”

She immediately went flaming red and jerked back from me. I realized what I had said and also blushed, and mumbled “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it that way… I…”

Sensei came to my rescue, walking up and clapping to get our attention. “All right girls, time to get to training. Yakumo, since Isaribi is new to this, I’m going to have you work mostly on physical training today, with one of my summons to help while I work more closely with Isaribi. Isaribi, your transformed state gives you excellent control over water elemental chakra, but you need to be able to mold chakra when not transformed and use it for non-elemental techniques as well, so I’m going to work with you on chakra control exercises and learning to form handsigns.”

The training session went by in a blur after that - the snake Sensei called up to supervise me was polite and brisk, though I wanted to collapse in a puddle by the end of the morning. After lunch I went home and rested for a bit, before doing another run through my practice routine to keep my muscles from seizing up.

That evening, as I sat in my studio, my mind drifted to the image of green and blue, of that pattern I had seen, and before I had even consciously decided to, I had started to paint. Not what I had seen that morning - not the girl who was ashamed of herself - but what I saw in my mind, a girl whose beauty lay not just in the colors and patterns of her physical body, but in the peace and happiness of her spirit.

The next morning, before team training started, I pulled a rolled up canvas out of my pack, and handed it to Isaribi. “I… thought it might help.”


End file.
